My biking life as captured in kilobytes and text of my own and of friends I've met in the cycling community.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

SSolo at Madrone

Well, I tried to gather the troops to go to Madrone on Saturday, as we had a great ride out there last weekend. I had a couple of replies, but in the end we just couldn't make a match up and I ended up ssolo'n it. At first I thought, I'll just bag it since no one could make it, I'm glad I decided to go. I have been riding with others since I moved down here, mainly because I still don't know the trails all that well, but mostly because I enjoy riding with other people. This was a nice change. I noticed things about the trail that I hadn't noticed before. It gives you a different perspective when you go ssolo. I didn't go very fast, yet I did better time wise than when I group ride... curious. I also felt a tremendous amount of flow. Madrone is a short trail ~8 miles, yet it's very rocky and can be quite tight and twisty in areas. You can never really bomb at Madrone, by the time you build up some good speed, you're into a rock garden, or into a switch back. It's a really nice trail, with a mix of everything, the best part of the trail system though is the constant cris crossing views of Canyon Lake. This area is part of the Texas hill country, so there are really neat peaks and valleys, and the lake is breath taking. My new mantra will be to go out at least once a month and do a solo ride. I really cleared out the cob webs and got a great work out in the process. I'm a better person after riding, more patient, more courteous, and less stressed. Life is good my friends, get out there and enjoy your surroundings.